Testing pupils on series circuits
Diagnostic Questions
for 11-14
What the Activity is for
The diagnostic questions can be used to check the pupils' understanding of key ideas introduced in this episode.
What to Prepare
- printed copies of these diagnostic questions
What Happens During this Activity
The questions might be used for homework or as the basis for discussion in class.
Resistors in series: designed to probe pupils' understanding of how voltage is shared between two identical resistors in series.
(a) V1 reads 3 volt (b) The battery voltage is shared, half across each resistor.
Different batteries: probes pupils' understanding of the relationship between the battery voltage and the total voltage across external resistors.
- V1 is 6 volt; V2 is 3 volt
Different resistors: probes pupils' understanding of how voltage is shared between unequal resistors.
- V1 is 4 volt; V2 is 5 volt; V3 is 4 volt
Bigger resistance: probes pupils' understanding of how voltage is shared between unequal resistors.
- V1 reads between 6 volt and 3 volt
- The battery voltage is shared, with the larger share across the larger resistor.
Resources
Download the support sheet / student worksheet for this activity.
